


What Jacob Saw

by purplejellosg1



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Jacob POV, Maybe a tiny bit of angst, Mostly Fluff, Overprotective, epilogue of sorts in season eight (Threads), set mostly in season 2-3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29335881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplejellosg1/pseuds/purplejellosg1
Summary: Jacob's initial take on Sam's relationship with Jack.
Relationships: Jacob Carter & Jack O'Neill, Jacob Carter & Samantha "Sam" Carter, Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37
Collections: Stargate Winter Fic Exchange 2020-21





	What Jacob Saw

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miss_Mil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Mil/gifts).



**I. Pride Comes Before A Fall (Secrets)**

Keeping his feelings in check was never something he was good at. Jacob tried to reason with himself that he was just being a good father; he wanted the best for his children and who could blame him for that?

Seeing Sam in her dress uniform never failed to make him proud. She'd followed in his footsteps where Mark had refused, and she'd made something of herself. She was rising through the ranks at an acceptable rate, and he wasn't ashamed to admit he kept tabs on her, often being sent updates from those he'd served with on the shining star that was his daughter, Captain Samantha Carter.

But it wasn't enough. Not now.

She'd spent so long following his dream that Jacob feared her chance at following her own wouldn't come.

So, he pulled some strings, bought a couple of really expensive bottles of whisky – hell, he was dying, what did he need savings for anyway?

And he got her the chance of a lifetime, the opportunity to see the stars.

He came crashing back to Earth when she refused.

In response to the bitter disappointment, he lashed out. He told her of his cancer diagnosis in an attempt at making her see how precious life was, how little time they really had to follow their – her – dreams.

She still refused the interview he'd gone to pains to set up, and he'd left her standing, hurt by her refusal, and walked out of the room not knowing if he'd see her again.

His pride was stung; his little girl didn't seem to want or need his help anymore.

He went home, unhappy. Thought back over their meeting, their conversations.

Thought back to the Colonel who'd stood beside her, offered her a drink, greeted him with a grin and a speculative look.

Thought back to the way Sam had smiled at him, fondly.

Too fond than was appropriate for a subordinate to give her Commanding Officer, and she did it right there in front of George.

Reaching for the phone with the hand that wasn't holding a glass of scotch, he waited a few moments before the phone was answered.

"It's Jacob Carter. I need a favour. I need to know everything you've got on a Colonel Jack O'Neill based out of Cheyenne Mountain." 

**II. Out of Endings, New Beginnings Come (The Tok'ra, 1 and 2)**

The Stargate.

Aliens.

The Goa'uld.

The Tok'ra.

Selmak.

'It'll take some getting used to,' the voice in his head told him, amusement in his – her – its – tone. How that was possible when it was inside his head, Jacob didn't really know.

One minute he was dying, the next he wasn't.

One minute he was alone in his head, the next he had company in the form of a symbiote who'd lived for hundreds of years.

He saw the world through new eyes, not least of all his daughter.

His heart broke for the pain she'd gone through, Selmak instinctively sharing with him what the loss of a symbiote could do. He went cold realising how close he'd come to losing her without even knowing it and vowed that things would be different.

He would be different.

When Selmak broke the news to him that he could no longer reside on Earth, he was saddened at the thought of there being so much distance between Sam and himself, but heartened when she went easily into his arms for a farewell hug.

No, he told himself firmly. Not farewell.

Thanks to the Tok'ra – thanks to Sam – it was 'see you later' and not goodbye.

He caught a glimpse of Colonel O'Neill – Jack – watching them, saw a glimmer of something in the other man's eyes before it was hidden.

'He seems like a good man, Jacob,' Selmak intervened before Jacob could say something aloud. 'Perhaps we should learn more about him before we judge.'

He nodded internally, reluctantly. But still turned to address the man who took his place next to Jacob's daughter. "Selmak says, let me see if I can translate this, don't call us, we'll call you."

**III. Seeing What You Can't See (Show and Tell)**

He took Sam aside while Jack spoke to the young boy about coming with him to the Tok'ra. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, so many questions he had about what had happened since they'd last seen each other.

But he caught sight of the sadness in her eyes, the concern he knew was directed at her Commanding Officer, and that distracted him from everything else.

"Sam? Something I should know, Kiddo?" He kept his tone soft but was unable to stop an eyebrow from arching.

"What do you mean, Dad?" She tore her gaze away from the doorway of the infirmary, biting her lip in the way he knew she did when her mind was somewhere else.

He kept quiet, knowing his daughter well enough to realise she'd fill in the silence on her own eventually. He stifled a grin when she sighed, ignored Selmak telling him he should ask instead of playing mind games and fell into step with Sam as she started to slowly lead the way to the gateroom.

"Colonel O'Neill had a son called Charlie," Sam told him, her voice quieter than it needed to be. There was no one around to overhear but she spoke softly anyway. "There was an accident. He shot himself with the Colonel's gun. This... Charlie. His mother read about it in the Colonel's personal file. It's where he – the boy – got the name from."

"And you're worried about Jack," Jacob surmised. He watched a soft blush spread out over his daughter's cheeks and stifled a sigh. Oh, no.

'Careful, Jacob,' Selmak warned. 'Interfering will achieve nothing but misery.'

'I know, Selmak. But he's her Commanding Officer,' Jacob argued. 'She has a crush –'

'She is a friend,' Selmak argued. 'She cares for him, as he does for her. If he didn't, he would not have agreed to bring you to me and thus save both of our lives. Be grateful, Jacob, that she has someone to look out for her in your absence.'

Jacob sighed, and stopped Sam from entering the gateroom by putting a hand on her arm. "I'll take care of the kid, Sam. You and Jack can be sure of that."

Her smile was quick, grateful. "Thank you, Dad. I'm sure that'll help a lot."

He gave her a small nod, stifling another sigh. When Jack and the boy entered the room, he gave his daughter a hug and told her to take care, before taking Charlie's hand and leading the boy away.

He'd keep his word, he thought, and take care of the child.

And he'd hope that Jack would return the favour by taking care of his.

**IV. "Dad" (Seth)**

Reuniting with Mark was good. Well, awkward, but good.

It made Selmak happy, and it made Sam happy. And Jacob would grudgingly admit that he felt happier, too.

About that, at least.

About Jack deciding he'd call him 'Dad'... Well, about that, he was undecided.

He'd known from the smirk on Jack's face that though it'd been the first time, it wouldn't be the last.

Just as he'd known the moment he saw them together that something was shifting between his daughter and her Commanding Officer. Something he wasn't sure he approved of, as a retired General or as a father.

Selmak, of course, lectured him that Sam's life wasn't his to live, that he couldn't make choices for her, and that he had to let her follow a path of her own choosing. 

And then Jack had called him 'Dad'. 

As Sam drove them back to the base, it was all he could think about. He twisted in his chair to study his daughter, now a Major though he'd been unable to attend the promotional ceremony and tried to look at it from her point of view.

When he'd first seen them together, he'd figured it was admiration, maybe a little bit of hero-worship.

The second time, he'd accepted that there was a close friendship brewing, one solidified by their shared experiences and close calls due to their work at Stargate Command.

The third time... the third time he'd realised his daughter had what he would've once called a crush. Or at least she'd begun to care deeply for the man who would lead her into battle. He thought it was mutual, too, if the little glances he caught between them was anything to go by and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

And now... After watching Jack carefully, closely, seeing the capable soldier take charge of the operation to take out the Goa'uld hiding on Earth in his own irreverent way...

It was grudging respect he felt for Jack, as an officer in the Air Force, as a father, but one he wasn't sure translated into being okay with something brewing between the man and his daughter.

For one, there was Sam's career – and Jack's, too. A relationship would complicate that, jeopardise Sam's rising star, and Jacob was fairly confident Jack wouldn't do that. He seemed, from what Jacob had seen and heard, to value her career above his own and that was something.

Something good. Reassuring.

Still, as Jack arrived in the gateroom to see him off, Jacob found himself studying them again.

They stood a little too close, the backs of their hands almost brushing.

As Jacob made his way to the ramp, he heard the low timbre of Jack's voice though couldn't make out the words.

Heard the laugh Sam gave in response.

And wondered if they thought no one could see what he blatantly could.

**V. Hell Freezing Over (Jolinar's Memories/Better the Devil You Know)**

Through half-closed eyes, Jacob watched his daughter and wondered.

She'd moved from her spot beside him when she thought he'd fallen asleep, leaving the cargo hold only to return a short time later with a cloth and a canteen of water. 

Half expecting her to return to his side, Jacob was only partly surprised to watch her crouch down beside her Commanding Officer. 

He watched as Jack started at the first touch of the cloth to the cut on his forehead, the younger man's eyes opening to lock on Sam.

"Carter?"

"Go back to sleep, Sir."

But he didn't, keeping his eyes open to watch as Sam carefully cleaned the cut. Jacob watched him watching her and was struck by a bolt of clarity.

There was a tenderness in her ministrations and a tenderness in Jack's gaze.

'You're not going to demand she stops?' Selmak questioned tiredly, their ordeal having taken it out of them both. 'Remind her it's inappropriate?'

Fresh from the horrors of Netu, having been forced to relive his wife's death over and over, Jacob sighed softly and closed his eyes, feeling as though he was intruding on a moment too private to witness. 'Not this time, Selmak. Not this time.'

**VI. Loose Ends (Threads)**

What Jacob saw were two men who loved his daughter, albeit there was only one Jacob thought worthy.

What he saw was his daughter doing her best to settle for what she could have, instead of holding out for what she wanted.

He saw a man who loved her so much he was willing to let her go.

He saw a man who would take care of her, though Sam would tell him she didn't need to be taken care of.

He saw, as the end got nearer, the daughter he loved more than anything and the man he'd come to care for more than he would admit sitting together in the observation room.

He would never know what was said between them, but he didn't need to.

As his eyes slid closed for the last time, the feel of his daughter's lips against his forehead, he saw a glimpse of the future, and the future was good.

'Be happy, Sam,' he thought as he joined Selmak in slipping into darkness. 'Be happy.'

#  
End.


End file.
